Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Football
by TrustMeIt'sBad
Summary: Conner Stoll heads out into the mortal world after the Titan War. At his school, he realizes a skill he never knew he had - Quarterback. He is pushed hard to make it to the pros. But just because you're good at something doesn't mean youre meant to do it.


The beginning of the end for Conner Stoll started out innocent enough.

It was two weeks after Kronos had been defeated, and the son of Hermes was in heaven. For the first time since he came to camp at age 10, there was absolute peace and contentment. He had tons of friends, a few girls he considered more than friends, and endless fun.

It was the last day of summer session, and most of the demigods were heading back out into the mortal world. With the threat of Kronos done and dusted, some demigods who hadn't ventured into the real world since they had arrived at Camp were travelling out into the "unknown".

Conner was filling out his year-round form. He had to fill out one of these every summer, so the answers were pretty monotonous to him. His cell phone rang out from his pocket.

He glanced at the number and groaned. It was his mom.

Okay, so that probably sounded mean. Conner liked his mom, sure, but she a CEO for an insurance company in Virginia. Which pretty much meant that the two had no common ground.

"Mom?" Conner said as he penciled his birthday into the form.

"Hey, sweetie," his mom responded.

Conner put down his pencil. "Mom! I'm 16!"

"You'll always be the youngest child." Mom chided.

"Yeah, well..."

"Are you interested in going to school? Travis is going off to college, and I found you a good school in Georgia."

Conner sat up. He hadn't been to school since he was nine. He started thinking about going back when Travis had left for college immediately after the Titan war. Conner was sure that if Travis could make it in college, then he could finish high school, get a degree, and live a normal life.

"What school?" Conner asked cautiously.

"Dublin Woods. It's pretty well known. It could get you into a good college." Mom added hopefully.

Conner leaned back on his chair. "I can dorm there?"

"Yeah... Conner, I know this is probably a big transition for you, and if you say no, I understand completely."

Conner threw his form in the trash. "I think I'll go. You have connections for the flight and tuition and stuff, right? You always do."

"Of course."

* * *

><p>Conner shouldered his bag nervously and looked up at the school.<p>

The campus was medium-sized. It had a normal school and a separate dorm building, which had kids bustling around, hauling bags. The term didn't start for another two weeks, so Conner had time to settle in.

He could see a state-of-the-art athletic center behind the dorm, but no one was using anything. The thing consisted of a practice football and baseball field, a gym, and a big stadium that must have been the football stadium.

Conner proceeded to the dorms, where he searched for a half-an-hour until he finally found his assigned room, 229. He punched in the code on the pad and pushed open the door. The first thing Conner saw was his new roommate.

Said roommate was a chubby black kid who was reading a magazine up on a bunk. When the door swung open, he looked up. "Oh, hey! They told me I was getting a new roomie." He got up off the bed and stuck out his hand. "I'm Devin Vogel."

"Conner Stoll." Conner responded. He looked around the room, which was surprisingly neat. There were two dressers and a bookshelf shoved against a wall. Adjacent to the bunk-bed was a mounted flat screen TV on the wall. A small bathroom was near the door.

"I didn't know they were sending me a scrawny white boy, though," Devin said jokingly, which earned him an elbow to the ribs.

Once Conner had unpacked, Devin gave him some tips. "#1; be either early or right on time for a meal, or you don't eat. #2; if you're going to screw around or goof off, be a faster runner than the guy next to you. #3; sadly, the girls are off limits. If they suddenly aren't, then I have dibs. #4; don't get caught by anyone if you sneak around at night. You'll regret it. #5; don't mess with me when I'm watching Emma Watson. I will hurt you if you do so. #6; Don't wake me up if I'm sleeping. Football practice is at six in the morning."

"You play play football?"

"Hell yeah!" Devin dug out a set of shoulder pads. "First game is in three weeks. You play?"

Conner shrugged. "I used to play peewee when I was seven. But real football? No. You guys any good?"

Devin shook his head. "Nah. We suck. But Dublin Woods is one of those towns in the south whose pride and joy is the high school football team. If we ever win state, then the town will riot."

"You're a junior?"

"Nah. I'm sophomore. But the team is a bit short on lineman. I tried out for varsity and made it as a center." Devin patted his belly affectionately. "My fat finally comes in handy."

Conner laughed. "You're lucky. I'm just bones. No meat."

"You could be a punter." Devin said.

"I'm not that small." Conner defended himself. "I bet I could try for your team and make it. As a quarterback."

"Fifty bucks says you can't," Devin challenged as he set down his shoulder pads.

A bet! This was Conner's specialty. "You're on." He spit onto his palm and stuck out his hand. Devin mimicked and the action and the bet was sealed.

Conner just really hoped he could make it. He didn't have fifty bucks.


End file.
